Origins of online communi/es
An American influence for the 21st century
Intro Online communi6es. Wait – what??
Rise of the communi/es, even more with Internet, even more with social media Back to the Future, and to the French and American revolu/ons
USA Community as a poli/cal engine
1620: Pilgrim Fathers flee England to live freely their religion 1700-‐2000: waves of immigrants (German, Poles, Italian, La/nos…) => “E Pluribus Unum”: community + pluralism
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USA 1960s: communi/es strike back
Revolu/on of the iden/ty: from the “mel/ng pot” to the “Salad bowl” Blacks, queers, women, hippies, veteran soldiers… Public space as a patchwork of specific rights linked to iden//es
USA Even capitalism can’t compete
Capitalism = homo economicus = neutral moral strategy in a society of individuals Community = people with a meaning and a choice in their ac/ons
France Rousseau and the Republic: equality rules
1789: Revolu/on. 1792: End of the monarchy, enters 1st Republic (now 5th) Republican moao: “One and unspliaable” (no more local, religious, country-‐based iden//es Theory: a federa/on is the siege of chaos. Let’s do “one na/on”
France Na/on vs. the rest of the world(s)
No recogni/on of anything that can be an alterna/ve power or culture Body poli/c as “unanimous”, speaking for the “general interest” Individuals, to enter public space, leave behind their iden//es.
France Building a na/onal community
Napoleon: state law, state schools “Centrale”, “Normale” Religion always wrong (s/ll true in 2000s: riots, veil, gheao) One fear: an atomized public space with enclosed communi/es & rules
Internet A community for research
Recogni/on of rights fits into technology (which allows scaaered iden//es to voice, gather, work together) First “internet” by DARPA for Universi/es: free, collabora/ve, community-‐based FR: state-‐owned, protected telegraph. US: given to companies, open for stock exchange (Reuters)
Internet The WELL, the first “online community” (1985)
Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link: a bulle/ng board becoming a “online community” An online community is a community that forms on the internet. A community is a group of people interac6ng, sharing, and working toward a common goal => The embodiment of the poli/cal and cultural matrix of the US
Internet When users take to the power
Starbucks, Gap, Malabar (France) can’t change their logos
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Internet When users take to the power
Poli/cal par/es can’t live without (Obama, “No” to European Cons/tu/on in 2005, Cons/tu/on of Island)
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Internet When users take to the power
And causes manage to leverage huge user base through social media (Nestlé v. Kit-‐Kat, Kony 2012)
The community So what is a community
Shared interest (beyond digital) Network of presence (not a single site) A will for poli/cal or commercial recogni/on Ability to produce collec/vely goods (content, opinion…)
The community Who is part of the community
Not everyone is equal (lurkers vs. “ac/ve minority” or 1-‐9-‐90) Rewards for the best (moderator, admin, perks) People with different levels of par/cipa/on (like, star, rate, comment, post, manage…)
The community What is the community doing?
Crowdfunding, from Kickstarter top projects to poli/cal project (JOBS Act)
The community What is the community doing?
Research & Development: Dell Ideastorm (18K projects, 700K votes, 500 products), Starbucks myIdeas
The community What is the community doing?
Human resources management: We are Sephora on Facebook (32k fans), BNP Paribas backstage (FR: 2 800 members, 2 500 comments)…
The community What is the community doing?
CRM/Social CRM: from Numericable (FR) savings to Nestlé’s “social media room” (to ease shareholders?)
The community What is the community doing?
Going from the industrial age: hierarchy, produc/vity, mono-‐tasking… To the the network economy: flexibility, project-‐based, horizontal…
Coming next A world without states, replaced by communi/es Individual empowerment: • No more borders, rise of
immigra/on (Costa Rica 10%, Ireland 14%, Botswana 4%, Singapore 30%)
• No more families (single household 5-‐10% in Africa, APAC, Middle-‐East and Lat. Am, 30+% in Europe, US
• No more (almost) religion: rise of atheism
• No more trade unions (-‐20pts in the US and France between 1950 and 1989)
Coming next A world without states, replaced by communi/es
End of the big guys • Travel, musique, commerce
all disrupted by new internet ventures (AirBNB, Uber…) with a community-‐based approach
• States are failing: too big, too debt-‐burdened. Alterna/ve? Say hi to Blueseed!
